How to Evaluate the Effectiveness of a Training Video

Research has found that expertly produced training videos provide faster training, high usage, flexibility and more consistently trained staff.

Selecting the correct training video producer is extremely important to the success of your training video.

Video production houses often do a full array of video production services from television ads, filming seminars and live events, producing corporate videos and training videos. They can be separated into three categories - advertising commercial, live corporates or instructional-design producers.

For most training situations, instructional-design producer-writers are best for producing video enhanced training sessions. These producers also possess greater expertise in working with detailed training materials.

The best way to assess whether the training video company is producing training videos from an instructional design perspective is to review their work and ask the following questions:

Script

1. Is the level of information easy to understand? Would a school age student be able to easily grasp the messages?
2. Is the script written in a way that engages? Or do you feel as if you are being told to do something by a bossy teacher rather than being shown in a friendly way?
3. What was the pace like or the video? Was it just right, too slow or quick?
4. Was the content presented in a logical, easy to follow sequence?
5. Was new material introduced before you could absorb the previous information fully?

Production

1. Were the work surroundings relevant? Was it trying to be all things for a range of industries or has it been customized for one company?
2. Were the characters and situations shown realistically?
3. Were the desired behaviours modeled in a way that can be copied by employees?
4. Were there things happening in the background that were distracting you from learning (eg: forklift hitting a pole)?
5. Were elements of a process clearly shown so that you could understand what they were referring to? (eg: when discussing say, a 'stop' button on a machine it was shown, so you knew what it looked liked)?
6. Were there too many special effects or graphics that took the attention away from the messages, thereby reducing the effectiveness of the program?
7. Were titles used to reinforce important points to enable staff to remember and absorb important information?
8. If you were an employee of this company how would you feel about them? Excited to be working for them, comfortable about the new process or feeling like they don't really care about their staff?
9. Were employees tested on their knowledge after watching a video to increase mental effort, therefore improving motivation and comprehension?

By keeping these questions in mind when reviewing training videos, you will be able to quickly evaluate how effective the training video will be as an educational tool.

This will enable you to choose the right video production provider rather than developing an employee training video that will end up gathering dust on your shelf.